Brandenburg vows to fight Snyder gas taxes

Gov. Rick Snyder’s political gambit, a 14-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax increase and a 60 percent hike in vehicle registration fees to pay for improved highways and streets, immediately hit a roadblock Thursday from a fellow Republican, Sen. Jack Brandenburg of Harrison Township, who will oppose the funding package.

The proposal to plug Michigan’s $1.2 billion annual shortage in road funding served as a centerpiece as Snyder rolled out his $51 billion budget for fiscal year 2014. Snyder administration officials said state highways are the “economic backbone” of the Michigan economy and the need for major repairs and improvements to state and local roads and bridges is obvious.

The combined price tag of higher costs at the pump — sparked by a 33-cents-per-gallon tax — and the boost in registration fees when a driver license is renewed would average about $120 per vehicle per year.

“A user fee is an appropriate approach,” the governor told reporters. “If you use roads more, you should pay more. If you use roads less, you should pay less. I … think people understand that.”

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Nonetheless, the Snyder plan faces a rough road in the state House and Senate from fellow Republicans. Perhaps at the top of that list of dissidents is Brandenburg, who was appointed to serve on a newly formed panel, the Senate Infrastructure Modernization Committee, which was created specifically to address the governor’s plan and alternatives offered by lawmakers.

“When people say Michigan roads are terrible, I think that’s an overstatement,” said Brandenburg, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee. “There are terrible spots, sure, but when I leave my house in Harrison Township to go to Lansing, on I-94 to I-696 and then I-96, there are some shaky spots around Wixom, but other than that, it’s smooth sailing.”

While calling for a rewrite of the Michigan road funding formula so it tilts more toward southeast Michigan, Brandenburg is also challenging the Snyder administration to produce a list of specific projects it wants to tackle across the state.

In addition, the senator said he is suspicious that the governor is ready to take a back door approach – allowing for a May statewide special election to boost the state sales tax from 6 percent to 8 percent if the gas tax and vehicle fees don’t gain traction in the Legislature.

In response, Kurt Weiss, a spokesman for the governor, said that Snyder is willing to listen to “other good ideas” on funding roads. Legislation that opts for the sales tax hike to finance road improvements has already been introduced by Republican legislators.

The Snyder plan would:

Tax fuel at the wholesale level in a way that would boost the 19-cents-per-gallon levy on unleaded fuel and the 15-cents-per-gallon tax on diesel fuel to an estimated 33-cents-per-gallon tax on both fuels.

Hold the line on gas taxes until 2016, when annual increases would be pegged to road constructions costs and overall fuel usage, with increases limited to 5 percent per year. As a result, the revenue raised is expected to average $1.5 billion per year over 10 years.

Hike vehicle registration fees by 25 percent for large trucks and 60 percent for cars and light trucks. The average $123 fee on a new $25,000 car would increase by approximately $80.

Allow counties to raise additional money for local roads and public transportation via a tax on the price of vehicles.

The director of the Macomb County Department of Roads, Bob Hoepfner, said he hopes the need to upgrade Michigan’s crumbling highways and roads will outweigh voter concerns about taxes.

“I think there is a need across the state, and in particular in Macomb County, to improve our roads. It … needs to be done,” he said.

Placing a greater tax burden on diesel fuel makes sense because large commercial trucks have a “tremendous impact” on road conditions and those heavy vehicles travel local roads to get to freeways, Hoepfner said.

The road chief added that Macomb County’s cost of “hot mix” asphalt has jumped from approximately $25 to $28 per ton when the state gas tax was last raised in 1997 to $65 per ton now. The Roads Department has also experienced large increases in the cost of gravel, “cold patch” asphalt for potholes, concrete, road salt, drainage culverts, traffic signals, and health care and retirement benefits for employees.

“It’s not just the cost of road construction but all of these factors that increase costs for the Department of Roads,” he said.

Rep. Marilyn Lane of Fraser, the Democratic vice chair of the House Transportation Committee, said she remains non-committal on the Snyder plan until she receives more information and hears from her constituents.

“I would like to look at the spending here in Lansing on state government before going to the public, who are still struggling in a tough economy,” the representative said in a Facebook message. “I think we can get half a billion dollars out of state government and put that money right back into our roads and bridges. I think we need to look at everyone who utilizes Michigan’s roads, including those out-of-state travelers and businesses.”

In contrast, a bipartisan group representing business, labor and local government known as the Michigan Transportation Team, quickly announced their support for the Snyder plan.

“We were encouraged by Gov. Snyder’s budget message, which outlined ways to raise $1.5 billion in much needed funding,” said Mike Nystrom, co-chairman of MTT and a vice president with the Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association, or MITA. “We look forward to working with the Legislature to find a much-needed long-term solution to the transportation funding crisis that we currently are experiencing.”